Spring symphony

By Deborah Deveney, Burrator Biodiversity Officer, South West Lakes Trust 

As the days get longer, we can start to make the most of the lighter mornings and early evenings. Wildlife is also responding to this increase in natural daylight and warming temperatures, encouraging animals to pair up and prepare a safe space to raise their young.  

I’m sure many of you wake up to the sound of bird song, maybe a robin or wren is singing in your garden. Our resident birds are the first to start the spring chorus – male birds sing at first sunlight to attract a mate or defend their territory.  Migrant birds join the choir later to create a melodious symphony culminating in May. Join others around the world to celebrate ‘International Dawn Chorus Day’ on Sunday 2 May at wildlifetrusts.org/dawn-chorus-day. 

Some bird species start to pair up earlier than others, so in February I started to survey the Burrator woodlands for one of Devon’s rarest birds, the Willow tit. It looks virtually identical to a Marsh tit - both are similar in size, have a black cap and favour damp habitats such as wet woodland or scrubby edges of Rhos pasture near streams and ditches, so spotting the difference is virtually impossible. The only reliable way of distinguishing between them is to listen to their song or contact calls – so we use a playback song/call and wait for a response. Unfortunately, no willow tits have responded yet but I did see a beautiful pair of Marsh tits, listened to a mistle thrush in song (sounds quite like a blackbird) and heard great spotted woodpeckers drumming to establish their territory. 

Another creature we associate with spring is the Common frog, when the males croak at night or early morning. I came across frog spawn in most of the wet flushes, and even saw a few worn out frogs enjoying the sun’s rays! The female frog lays thousands of eggs each spring to ensure survival – only 1 in 50 eggs makes it to tadpole stage and the odds are even lower to reach final adult stage. You can attract frogs to your garden by creating a small pond – it’s amazing how quickly they will find it.  The pond should have gentle sloping sides to allow the frogs to climb out and a deeper area in the centre so they can hibernate at the bottom in the mud, but don’t introduce fish as they will eat any frog spawn. Freshwater Habitats Trust is collecting spawn data at freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/pondnet/spawnsurvey2021 or for advice on how to create a garden pond visit freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/pond-clinic/create-pond. I hope you can get into your garden or local green space and appreciate the beauty and sounds of nature in full song.